School Days–Cincinnati–1930s-40s

The day after Labor Day in 1938, I began my education by entering old Raschig School in downtown Cincinnati.  I’m sure Mother must have pointed out the school to me many times before I started the first grade there.  It was just across Central Parkway from our first floor two-room apartment on Elm Street.  If we were standing on the street or even sitting on the front stoop, we would have been able to see the big red brick building and the heavy iron fence that surrounded it.

I remember the dress I wore on my first day of school because a picture had been taken the day before at the County Fair in Dayton, Ohio.  My grandma had bought it for me – a yellow silk dress with brown velvet ribbons and a full circle accordion pleated skirt.  This was before World War II when silk was the fabric of choice for special occasions.

I can remember Mother walking with me to my first day at Raschig and then suddenly being gone.  I don’t recall being particularly happy or unhappy – I was just there.  Because I hadn’t been to kindergarten, they put me in a class with kids who needed to be evaluated.  The teacher was a middle-aged lady and not particularly friendly  Soon after I arrived,  I noticed kids were passing around food for our mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks.  One bowl held the most gorgeous purple plums.  I don’t believe I had ever seen plums before.  I asked the teacher if I could pass the plums and she was very brusque and said the children were chosen ahead of time and to go sit down.

Luckily, I left her class within a couple of weeks and had Mrs. Clark and a young student teacher who were wonderful.  I remember struggling with reading – it didn’t seem to make sense and then one day it all came together and I never had any problems after that.  I also struggled a little to make the cursive letters that spelled out Lillian.  We never did learn to print but went into handwriting immediately.

I looked forward to the stories the teacher read to us – “Lazy Liza Lizard”, “The Three Bears”, and particularly “Little Black Sambo” because I loved the description of the butter and the pancakes.

Ours was an inner city school but during the housing shortage of those war years there were many middle-class people living in the area with children going to Raschig.  Kids like Rollo, a black boy who always wore stylish knickers and argyle knee socks and appeared to come from a well-to-do family as well as a girl named Mary Jane and another girl named Patty Lou (double names were big in the 1930s).  Our family was about middle-ground economically – there were kids much poorer – Dorothy, Mary Lou, and poor Otto, a raggedy boy whose shoe soles flapped as he walked.

This was a Valentine I designed one year to show Rollo, Otto and myself in our classroom

Those Raschig years were good for me – I did well in school, the teachers seemed pleased with my work, I thought most of the kids liked me, nobody bothered me except for teasing occasionally about my long finger curls and I never took that seriously.  When I was 9 years old, I jotted down a poem about school starting again at old Raschig.   I never did outgrow my love of school.

Poem by Lillian (9 years old) – August, 1942

I love to go to school
And see the teachers dear
There to teach us children
All through the year.

I love to go to school
To learn to write and read
And there to learn to be
Very good indeed.

I love to go school
Because it’s so much fun
For when I have gym
I sometimes get to run.

I love to go to school
Way up into June
For you see I am so anxious
School will be starting soon.

In autumn when the leaves are falling
We hear the children’s voices calling
I think how glad they must be
To go to school the same as me.

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Tuna Pasta Mornay

I first tried this dish in 1989, adapted from a recipe in my daughter’s Weight Watchers’ Favorites cookbook.  There were several recipes in that book that were reduced in fat/calories but delicious and became family favorites.  The original recipe used 8 oz. of imitation crab meat (January, 1989 – “excellent”) and I’ve also used shrimp, salmon and now this version with tuna.

TUNA PASTA MORNAY

2 cups dry pasta
2 Tblsp. margarine or butter, divided
1 cup broccoli florets, in bite-size pieces
½ cup sliced onions
½ cup sliced mushrooms
2 Tblsp. all-purpose flour
2 cups 2 % milk
2 oz Swiss cheese, shredded
2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
5 oz. can white Albacore tuna, drained and flaked
Salt/Pepper

Cook pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente according to package directions.  Drain.

In a large skillet, heat 1 Tblsp. margarine/butter; add broccoli and cook over medium low heat until color has brightened.

Add onions and cook until onions are starting to soften.   Add mushrooms and cook until all vegetables are tender.

With slotted spoon remove vegetables and set aside.

In a small bowl,  place flour and add a small amount of milk to make paste.

Gradually add remaining milk and stir.  In same skillet heat remaining 1 Tblsp. margarine/butter. Gradually stir in milk, mix, stir constantly until smooth.  Add cheese and cook, stirring frequently until cheese is melted.

Add the cooked vegetables, flaked tuna and cooked pasta.  Toss gently, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and cook over low heat until heated through.

Serve at once.
Servings – 4

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Civil War Quilt – Block 35 – Star of the West

This is block #35 in the Civil War block-of-the-week series offered by Barbara Brackman.  It is called Star of the West.  Go to Barbara’s blog to get the pattern and to see the story and pictures related to this block.

http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2011/08/35-star-of-west.html

This is a fairly easy and very pretty block.  For new quilters, this is how I assembled the block.  I handled the B squares differently to avoid piecing small bits of fabric.

• Cut pieces according to Barbara’s instructions but do not cut the B 2-7/8 inch squares diagonally.

• Place the B squares right sides together according to how you want to place them in the block.  In my case, I put the striped fabric on top of the blue flowered and the light fabric on top of the medium red.  In each case, draw a line diagonally on the back of the square that will be on top of the set.

• Stitch ¼ inch on each side of the drawn line on each set.

• Cut each set on the line to form 8 half-square triangles.  Press toward the darker fabric and trim tails.  Each HST should measure 2-½ x 2-½ inches.

• Place the pieces on a mat in the proper order.

• Divide the pieces into four patches.

• Join row 1 of each patch, pressing to the left; then join row 2 of each patch, pressing to the right.  Join the two rows together, alternating the pressing direction of seams.  Each patch should measure 4-½ x 4-½ inches.

• Join the two top patches together and then the two bottom patches.  Press seams in opposite directions.  Join the two rows of patches together.   Press – piece should measure 8-½ x 8-½ inches.

See the previous blocks in this series in my category list on the right hand side of the page – Quilting – Civil War Quilt.

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Blackberry Cobbler and a Berry-Loving Dog

Rusty likes blackberries.  It came as quite a surprise to me.  We had gotten Rusty from the shelter in 1999 when he was four months old.

At the time, we lived on two acres in a rural area on the Ohio/Indiana border called Blue Jay.  One day, I was preparing blackberries and looked down to see Rusty staring expectantly at me or rather, at the plump blackberry in my hand.  I had never given a tart, wild blackberry to a dog before, but that’s what he seemed to want.  He loved it.  Luckily, I had buckets of berries picked from our wild thicket in the backyard, so he got a fair share of our bounty.

I took Rusty with me when I went out to pick berries – not always a good thing for me.  I had taken off my straw hat for a minute and looked around to see this.

I wasn’t happy that my hat was all gnawed around the edges.

I scolded him a little, but not enough to warrant this sad reaction.

A year later, I wrote a piece for a web site about Rusty and his favorite fruit.

BLACKBERRY TIME IN BLUE JAY -  Rusty, our year-old hound, seems to know when the blackberries are ready for picking.  He takes off toward the back yard on a brisk trot, straining at his leash  – past the asparagus bed and rhubarb, along the border of the vegetable garden, down to the very edge of the property where the wild blackberries grow.  Rusty plucks off all the berries he can reach, always choosing the choice center berry, ignoring the thorns that prickle his nose.  We still have plenty of dark, lustrous berries to carry back to the house in our graniteware bucket to cook up into summertime treats such as Blackberry Cobbler.

That was the last summer I could put on my tattered straw hat and take Rusty down to the blackberry patch.  My husband’s condition worsened and we had to move to a property I could manage alone.   David has been gone for over 7 years, but Rusty is still with me, an elderly 12-year-old, and I still get some blackberries at the farm market and make that good Blackberry Cobbler from a recipe found in an old Farm Journal Pie cookbook.

BLACKBERRY COBBLER

¾ cup granulated sugar
1 Tblsp. cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
4 cups blackberries
1 T butter
½ tsp cinnamon or ¼ tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for one minute, whisking constantly.   Remove from heat and gently stir in the blackberries.

Pour this mixture into an ungreased 10” x 6 x 2 inch baking dish or a 1-½ qt casserole.

Dot with butter and sprinkle with spices.

DOUGH:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tblsp. granulated sugar
1-½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup shortening
½ cup milk

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

Stir in the milk.

Drop spoonsful of dough over the hot fruit filling.

Bake in a 400 F degree oven about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbling.  Cool slightly on a wire rack.

Serve in bowls with cobbler juices.  Best when served warm.

6 servings

Rusty still gets an occasional ripe blackberry tossed his way.

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Sunbonnet and Quilt Wall Hanging

My oldest daughter made two beautiful cross-stitch pictures for me.  One shows a back-to-school scene with a quilt, lunch pail, slate and books.  I placed this piece in a rustic wooden frame.

The second piece shows a quilt, and a sunbonnet on an old wooden chair.

I decided to make this into a  wall hanging, using a 3-½ inch Dresden Plate as the center and half Dresden plates along the edge.

The quilting is also done in a half-Dresden Plate design.

The finished hanging measures 18 x 23 inches.

It’s nice to have two new end-of-summer pieces to display.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

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Civil War Quilt – Block 34 – Rosebud

This is block #34 in the Civil War block-of-the-week series offered by Barbara Brackman.  It is called Rosebud.  Go to Barbara’s blog to get the pattern and to see the story and pictures related to this block.

http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2011/08/34-rosebud.html

I cut and sewed the A pieces a bit differently.  Also, note that I changed to a scant 1/4 inch for a portion of the block.  For new quilters, here is how I assembled the block.

• Cut pieces per Barbara’s instructions but note the following changes for pieces A.
• Draw a line diagonally on the 4 light 2-1/8 x 2-1/8 squares.  Lay 4 light and 4 dark 2-1/8 x 2-1/8 squares right sides together.

• Stitch ¼ inch on each side of the drawn line on each set of squares.

• Cut on the diagonal line to form 8 half-square triangles.  Press toward dark fabric and trim tails.  These pieces should measure 1-3/4 x 1-3/4 inches.

• Lay pieces out on a mat in the proper order.

• Beginning with first patch, join the two A half-square triangles and add the A triangle.  USE SCANT ¼ INCH SEAMS IN THIS PORTION.  Piece should measure 3-¼ inches across top.

• Join to triangle C, using FULL ¼ INCH SEAM

• Join to triangle B, using FULL ¼ INCH SEAM.  Press toward B and trim tails.  Piece should measure 4-½ x 4-½ inches.

• Complete remaining three patches in the same manner.

• Using full ¼ inch seam, join row 1, pressing seam toward the left
• Using full ¼ inch seam, join row 2, pressing seam toward the right.

• Join the two rows, using full ¼ inch seam.  Piece should measure 8-½ x 8-½ inches.

See the previous blocks in this series in my category list on the right-hand side of the page – Quilting – Civil War Quilt.

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Family Civil War Wall Hanging

In this sesquicentennial year of the beginning of the Civil War, I have commemorated it by participating in Barbara Brackman’s block-of-the-week series (see my efforts under CATEGORIES – CIVIL WAR QUILT on the right hand side of the page), and making a wall hanging for my youngest daughter that incorporated pictures of her family taken in Civil War costume in Gettysburg.

My latest project is a wall hanging made up of pictures of my ancestors who were alive during the Civil War.  To fill out the hanging, I added current family pictures taken in Gettysburg plus one that was taken of me in 1952 during Portsmouth, Virginia’s Bicentennial. These pictures were scanned and then printed on inkjet printable fabric.

I wanted to use some Barbara Brackman reproduction fabric I had received for Mother’s Day and included some solid pieces to make up the  blocks.

From my Electric Quilt 6 software, I chose a Sawtooth Star pattern in an 8-inch finished size.  The printed pictures formed the center of the star.

I machine stitched a feather-stitch as quilting around the blocks and through the centers of the triangles.

I decided to make the piece without a border and with white binding to draw more attention to the old photographs.

I made a label for the back with the pertinent information for each ancestor and the current family.

Paternal Great-Great Grandparents

Three Pictures of Maternal Great Uncle

Maternal Great-Grandmother

Maternal Great-Aunt

Paternal Great-Grandfather

Lillian – 1952 – Portsmouth, VA Bicentennial

Youngest Daughter and Son-in-Law, Gettysburg

Youngest Grandchildren – Gettysburg

Oldest Daughter – Gettysburg

I like the idea of having the ancestors who endured the Civil War join with our present-day family in commemorating the Sesquicentennial.

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Civil War Quilt – Block 33 – Indiana Puzzle

This is block #33 in the Civil War block-of-the-week series offered by Barbara Brackman.  It is called Indiana Puzzle.  Go to Barbara’s blog to get the pattern and to see the story and pictures related to this block.

http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2011/08/33-indiana-puzzle.html

The only tricky part of this block is easing the A and B sections together.  For new quilters, this is how I assembled the block:

• Print out the template page from Barbara’s blog.
• Note:  Add ¼ inch seam allowance to each piece

• Cut out the pieces according to Barbara’s instructions.  Place the pieces in the proper order on a mat.

• Piece each of the 4 units as follows:  Fold the corner piece and the pie-shaped piece in half and press.
• Place the pieces right sides together and match and pin at the pressed line.

• Place another pin at each end, lining up the sides.

• With the wedge piece on top, start at one end and using a ¼ inch seam, sew toward the center, turning and easing the top piece as you go.

Continue around to the end, turning and easing, and being careful to smooth out any tucks on the bottom layer.    Press away from wedge.  Piece should measure 4-½ x 4-½ inches.

• Complete the 4 sections, then join the top row, matching seams – press seam to the left.
• Join the bottom row, pressing seam to the right.  Join the two rows to complete the block.  Piece should measure 8-½ x 8-½ inches.

See the previous blocks in this series in my category list on the right hand side of the page – Quilting – Civil War Quilt.

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V-J Day in Cincinnati -1945

In August of 1945, I was 12 years old, enjoying the last month of vacation before entering the 8th grade at old Highland School in the East End neighborhood of Cincinnati.

I was obsessed with the Cincinnati Reds who were just terrible that year, but I followed them on the radio, listening to Waite Hoyt’s expert calls interspersed with his stories about the 1927 Yankees where he had been a star pitcher and teammate of Babe Ruth.

V-E Day (the end of the war in Europe) had occurred in May and everyone was hoping and praying for the end of the war in Japan.  I remember seeing pictures in magazines of how things would be once the war was over.  I was particularly impressed with a picture of a candy store display that actually had chocolate bars along with the Chuckles gum drops, taffy and hard candy we were used to seeing throughout the war.

My father showed me a picture of an early television set in one of his radio magazines and promised that soon we would have one of those contraptions in our house where we could watch all kinds of shows, movies and sporting events.  It seemed like all the good things would never happen, but then on August 14, 1945, we got the radio announcement and the headlines in the Cincinnati Post – the war was over!

After supper, it seemed like we ought to do something to celebrate.  My parents weren’t big on celebrations or crowds, but my father thought it would be appropriate to ride into downtown Cincinnati and see what was going on.

My father had a succession of cars throughout the war, patching them up and trying to get them to last the duration.  The one we had in August of 1945 was a coupe with a rumble seat, rare even in those wartime days.

My parents got into the coupe and my sister and I got into the rumble seat.  We drove to downtown Cincinnati and the hub of the city around Fountain Square.  The night of V-J Day was absolute bedlam with people crowding the streets, hanging out of windows, cruising around in their cars wasting valuable rationed gasoline, and screaming at the top of their lungs.   This seemed to be a purely spontaneous celebration – no speeches, no politicians, no music – and when we came rolling down the street in our aged car with the rumble seat, we immediately got everybody’s attention.  At least, here was something to watch – not a parade or band – but something different to see.  Even with all the old automobiles in use during the war, rumble seats were a novelty.  My sister and I smiled, waved and enjoyed the attention.

My sister and I – 1945

Then we made our way out of town and back home to hopes of a bright tomorrow with the return of three uncles who had been on various battlefronts for almost 4 years.

Soon, chocolate bars began appearing in the display case of Schreck’s delicatessen on the corner of our street, and the uncles were all back with their families.

In a few years my father built one of the first television sets in the city (extremely primitive with a tiny postcard sized picture).  The war was finally over.

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Slightly Asian Slaw

This salad is my version of several recipes for an Asian-type slaw.  It’s very flavorful and goes nicely with any kind of sandwich.  Also, I like the fact that it can be served immediately rather than having to prepare it an hour or two in advance of a meal.

SLIGHTLY ASIAN SLAW

• 1 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter
• 2 Tblsp. peanut oil
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• ¼ tsp. Mongolian Fire Oil (opt.)
• 1 Tblsp. rice vinegar
• ½ Tblsp. granulated sugar
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 3 green onions, chopped (white and green part)
• 1/4 cup grated carrots
• 1 Tblsp. peanuts
• 1 Tblsp. snipped cilantro

Place peanut butter in a small jar with a lid. Add peanut oil, sesame oil, Mongolian Fire Oil, vinegar and sugar.  Whisk with a fork…

…and then put a lid on the jar and shake vigorously.

In a large bowl, toss the shredded cabbage, onions and carrots together.   Salad can be covered and refrigerated at this point.

When ready to serve, add peanuts, cilantro and dressing.  Toss well.

4 side-salad servings

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